Making the right choice
by xPhoenixPrincessx
Summary: Andromeda Black is starting her seventh year at Hogwarts. She’s becoming closer to Ted Tonks but their relationship has to be a secret. Soon she will have to make the choice between what is right and what is easy. What does she decide?
1. Chapter 1

**Making the right choice.**

**Summary: **Andromeda Black is starting her seventh year at Hogwarts. She's becoming closer to Ted Tonks but their relationship has to be a secret. Soon she will have to make the choice between what is right and what is easy. What does she decide?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that you recognise -- all of it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**AN: **I know the ages for Andromeda, Bellatrix and Narcissa are wrong because of the Black family tree information but I wanted them to be nearer Sirius' age. I've still made it so that Tonks would have been born when Sirius was around the age of 14/15 to fit in with OotP.

**Chapter One.**

I made my way to the train compartment where I knew my younger sister would be sitting. This year was feeling strange already as I have never been to Hogwarts without my older sister Bellatrix being there to stand up for me when I need her. I'm not a coward, don't get me wrong, I can fight my own battles, but having Bella there just confirmed the closeness that us three sisters share.

Bellatrix has just finished her last year at Hogwarts this summer just gone. She passed her exams with good marks even though she had not studied much at all. "Who cares?" she had replied when I had asked why she was not studying. "It's not like I need NEWTs for what I'm going on to do after I've finished. All the Dark Lord cares about is loyalty amongst his followers." With a toss of her long, black hair she had wandered off out of the portrait hole with Rudolphus Lestrange -- probably to torture some defenceless Gryffindor first year.

I hadn't seriously thought for a moment that Bellatrix would join the Death Eaters when she left. Sure Bellatrix hated Mudbloods and thought that the world was a better place without them but to join the ranks of someone who planned to wipe out all the Muggles and Mudbloods -- that was something else. Anyway, Bellatrix had never answered to anybody. She was her own person and never did what other people told her to do. She had been born to be a leader, not a follower. I was wrong though. The day after Bellatrix had graduated from Hogwarts she had joined the Death Eaters and had the mark burned onto her forearm. The black skull standing out against her pale skin. Personally, I thought it looked hideous (I still do actually) and I vowed never to take the mark.

I sat down next to Narcissa who was examining her reflection in the hand held mirror she always carried around with her. Most people would think that Narcissa was nothing more than a vain Pureblood who didn't care about anyone around her but then most people didn't know the real Narcissa. She is two years younger than me as she is fifteen and just starting her OWL year. Narcissa doesn't look like either me or Bella.

Narcissa has long, wavy blonde hair that cascades down her back while Bella and I both have dark hair. Bella's is darker than mine, her hair is almost black, while mine is a medium brown. I hate my hair, it's so plain compared to Cissy's and Bella's. All three of us have different eye colours too. Cissy's are very pale blue, Bella's are very dark brown and I have dark green eyes. None of us had inherited the famous Black eyes which were steel grey, like our cousins Sirius and Regulus.

Sirius is my favourite cousin. I can't admit this to anyone though. Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor when he started Hogwarts and the family had never gotten over the shame of it. He had been the first Black not to be sorted in Slytherin which angered my Aunt, Sirius' mum. I still remember that Howler that had been sent to Sirius after Bellatrix had sent an owl saying that he had been sorted into Gryffindor. The word's weren't exactly bad, I'd heard much worse before when he had been yelled at, but this time the tone of Aunt Walburga's voice had been chilling and it had even scared me a little.

"_Sirius Black. You are a disgrace to this family. Never before has a Black failed to be sorted into Slytherin house and you have shamed the family. You are in the house full of Mudbloods and Muggle lovers and I am disgusted with you. As far as I'm concerned you are no longer part of this family."_

I remember looking over to the Gryffindor table to see what his reaction had been. He hadn't seemed too bothered about the whole thing. He just shrugged and turned back to the conversation he had been having with his three friends. The black haired one with glasses was James Potter, the one sitting across the table from those two had sandy coloured hair and was called Remus Lupin and the chubby boy next to him was called Peter Pettigrew. A small red haired girl a few seats down had looked startled at the Howler like she had never seen one before. "A Mudblood." Bellatrix had whispered when she saw me looking at the next table.

"So, Andromeda how was your summer?"

I was brought back to the real world with a start when my friend Scarlet spoke to me.

"Oh, it was okay. Nothing too special. A few balls and parties that I had to attend, the usual I guess."

The Black family was one of the oldest, and richest, Pureblood families left in the wizarding world and as a result we were all expected to turn up to these events that had been organised. I despised going to these events as I got bored very quickly. I hated having to wear those awful dresses that my mother insisted I must wear. I looked like an idiot and they are so hard to breathe in. I like dressing up in some nice robes but these awful creations did nothing for me. I still looked plain compared to my sisters.

"You're lucky. I would kill to be able to go to some of those parties but my parent's hate them. I think they are trying to keep themselves safe you know… with all that's happening these days. They don't want to end up in Azkaban."

"You are welcome to take my place. They are really boring." I replied. "So have you heard who the Head Boy and Girl are yet?"

I tried to change the subject. Scarlet is too stupid for her own good sometimes. I do really like her but she really shouldn't go on about her parents avoiding things because they don't want to show their loyalty to the Dark Lord who is rapidly rising to power. It's dangerous because if he found things like this out he would kill them. I don't want her to be killed.

"Some Ravenclaw guy and a Gryffindor girl." She shrugged, as she pulled a nasty face when the word 'Gryffindor' was mentioned.

"Typical." I rolled my eyes. It was always some Gryffindor that got either Head Girl or Head Boy. Traditional enemies of Slytherins. We were certain not to win the House Cup this year. Gryffindors didn't treat the Slytherins fairly and always took points for stupid reasons. Sirius was the only decent Gryffindor.

The rest of the afternoon went by slowly as the hills rolled past as we sped through the countryside. I occasionally joined in with parts of the conversation but nothing really interested me enough to make me want to contribute. Talking about ways to torture Mudbloods doesn't really interest me to be honest. I may not be fond of them, after all they were tinting the Purebloods blood and making it dirty. I was brought up to hate Mudbloods and anyone whose blood wasn't pure.

I managed to get a good seat in the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony. My cousin Regulus was starting this year and I wanted to see where he got placed. I hoped for his sake that he makes it into Slytherin because he isn't as strong as Sirius is and I don't think he would be able to handle a Howler from Aunt Walburga in his first week here.

"Black, Regulus."

I watched him walk up to the stool and place the Sorting hat onto his head. The seconds ticked past and I could have sworn my heart had stopped beating. Finally the Sorting hat called out "SLYTHERIN" and I clapped with the rest of my House as he joined the table.

Over the other side of the room I noticed that Sirius was looking a bit upset. I knew that he had wanted Regulus to be in Gryffindor with him. Even if it was just to prove that he wasn't 'weird' for being in Gryffindor, that he wasn't strange because he was the only Black to be in that House.

"Hey Andie!" Regulus grinned, nervously. "I made it!"

I smiled at his happiness, he was my second favourite cousin and I was just glad that he was happy. I was glad that now Bella couldn't turn on him like she had Sirius. Knowing this I was able to fall asleep easily that night which made up for the sleepless nights that were about to come my way.


	2. Chapter 2

-1**Chapter Two.**

I was awake bright and early the next morning which was a bit of a shock as I usually struggle to get up before breakfast and only just manage to get to my lessons looking presentable. It was one of my main faults and my mother was constantly complaining about it as she believed that Blacks should always be up at the crack of dawn, except on Sundays. One of these days I'm going to tell her that she needs to relax a little. Having a lie in isn't a crime. She has an awful temper though, and I would probably be too scared to talk back at her.

To my surprise Regulus was already up and dressed, sitting on one of the comfy sofas in the common room. He was staring at the dying flames, as though he could not believe that he was actually here -- at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Regulus. How are you feeling this morning?" I sat myself beside him.

"I'm fine." He replied in a voice that indicated that he was anything _but_ fine.

"You don't sound fine. You know you can talk to me if you want. It's not like I'm going to go telling everyone about what you said. I'm not like that, I'm not Bella or Cissy."

I love my sisters, I really do, but they cannot keep anything to themselves. If it's something that makes you sound weak, Bella will go around letting people know how much of a wimp you are. To her weakness is a sin and should not be tolerated -- especially if you are in Slytherin. Cissy, however, loves to have a gossip. She knows everything about everyone and likes better than anything to be the one to spread the gossip around the school. People have realised this and now no one tells her any secrets. It doesn't work though as she still finds out and spreads it if she can.

"It's just… I'm wondering if it's such a good thing that I'm in Slytherin."

"Of course it's a good thing! You are with me and Cissy!" I was shocked. Regulus had always wanted to in Slytherin with the rest of us.

"Sirius is going to be so mad at me."

Ah, so that was the problem.

"Sirius doesn't think any less of you. You are his brother and he loves you, even though he may not show it. Sure he may be pissed at you for a while but it's only because he wanted you to be in his house to show that he wasn't weird for being sorted into it."

"He always says that all Slytherins are stinking, rotten, slime balls. He says that the only decent Slytherin there ever was is you."

"And now you." I added, flashing him a quick smile. "Come on, let's go down to breakfast. I'm hungry."

The owl post arrived halfway through breakfast and I was surprised to see that a letter had been dropped in front of me. I didn't have anyone that would be writing to me today. I opened it up and read it.

_Andie,_

_I have heard that Regulus has been placed in Slytherin house. This is good news. I need you to watch over him as he is easily influenced and it would not do our cause any good if he was influenced by the wrong sorts -- namely his traitorous brother. You are the oldest Black left at Hogwarts and so this duty falls to you. Do not disappoint me._

_Bella._

I frowned. What cause is she talking about? It suddenly dawned on me as I remembered what she received a few months before. She wanted me to make sure that Regulus wanted to become a Death Eater upon leaving at the end of his seventh year. She must want him to be influenced by the 'right' people straight away because if he doesn't it might be too late for them. I was beginning to realise that maybe it wasn't the best thing for Regulus to be in Slytherin. I needed to talk to Sirius, but it would have to wait until after lessons. I looked at my timetable. _Great, Potions with the Hufflepuffs._

The first thing I noticed when I entered the dungeon (slightly late) was that there was no seats next to any of my fellow housemates. I suppose that's what you get for hanging around after breakfast when there is an odd number of Slytherins in your class.

With a groan, I went and sat next to one of the Hufflepuffs, shooting death glares at both him and Scarlet who was sat the opposite end of the classroom next to her latest crush.

"Andromeda isn't it?" The guy asked.

"Yes." I answered before reaching into my bag to pull out the books needed for the lesson, my wand and a quill.

"That's a nice name. I'm Ted Tonks by the way."

Was he trying to _flirt _with me? No one ever tells me I have a nice name. I've always thought that I was the only one apart from my mother who liked it. Everyone else just calls me Andie. It used to irritate me to no end but I learnt to live with it.

"And I care about your name because?"

"I was only trying to be polite. Just because you are a Slytherin and I'm a Hufflepuff doesn't mean that I can't talk to you." He sounded quite hurt.

_Good, _I thought spitefully, _I didn't ask him to talk to me anyway._

I didn't reply because at that moment the Potions master, Professor Slughorn, entered the room. He was one of my favourite teachers as he treated me with respect which I think all teachers should do. That probably has something to do with the fact that I'm a Black though, which doesn't really make me feel that good. Sure there's advantages to it because it gets me out of trouble but then people also expect you to be a certain way. I don't want to be a clone; I just want to be me.

I groaned loudly when I found out that we were to be paired up for this lesson. That would mean that I would have to actually talk to Tonks, and that I couldn't just avoid him like I so desperately wanted to. Luckily I knew that we were both excellent (or close enough) at brewing potions and so hopefully any communication between the two of us would be minimal.

I began to chop the caterpillars, making sure that they were exactly the same size as potions tend to work better that way. If you have different lengths they react differently and could well end up ruining the potion. I didn't want that to happen, I had only ever once got an E for one of my potions and I had been quite upset. Potions was by far my best subject and I hated that I got a less than perfect mark. From that day on I had never achieved less than an 'outstanding' for one of my assignments -- practical or theory.

"Wow, you really take care when measuring out your ingredients." Tonks said as he looked over at what I was doing.

"Well I want to achieve the best I possibly can." I replied.

"Surely it doesn't matter if the ingredients aren't exactly chopped up right does it?" He looked at me with a look of confusion on his face.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart, Tonks. You should know that it could effect the potion if they were slightly different sizes and the only way to create a perfect potion is to follow the instructions exactly how they were written, which happens to include the size."

He leaned back onto the table behind him.

"There's no such thing as a 'perfect potion'." He said, simply. "In fact there's no such thing as a perfect anything. Everything has its own flaws and imperfections. Nothing can be exactly the same, no potion will have ingredients added at exactly the same time with ingredients that are exactly the same size. There's always going to be a difference, no matter how tiny. It's the same with people really, no one can call themselves perfect. We all have our faults."

"You seem to have given that a lot of thought."

"It's a fact, it doesn't require much thought really." He shrugged.

It annoyed me in a way how he could come out with these things and just look like he hadn't a care in the world, like he could just say them without putting any thought into it. His slightly messy mousy brown hair just covering one of his dark eyes.

"You okay?" He asked, suddenly.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem to be staring at me, that's all." He grinned.

"Why would I be staring at you, Tonks?" I prayed that I wasn't blushing, and also that he hadn't gotten the wrong idea about why I had been looking at him.

"Because I'm so good looking."

"Pfft. You wish." I turned and went back to making the potion that was supposed to be a joint effort.

Half an hour later I was able to sit back and admire my handiwork as I brushed a few strands of my long hair away from my face. I felt like another 'outstanding' was coming my way. At least that was something I could be proud of. No help whatsoever. The hairs prickled on the back of my neck and I turned to find that Tonks was staring at me.

"What now?" I snapped.

"Nothing, I just thought that if you could stare at me, I could stare at you."

"Piss off, Tonks" I swore.

"You know, you can call me Ted." He said, leaving the room before I was able to reply.

_Well I'm certainly not calling him Ted. I only call my friends by their first names and he certainly isn't a friend._

The rest of the day passed without much happening. The only thing that really stood out was that incident at dinner where one of Sirius' friends, the chubby one -- Peter Pettigrew -- managed to make his pudding explode while practicing a new charm that he had learnt that day. How someone that thick could end up in that gang, I don't know. Still he must have something good about him, Sirius had told me enough times that occasionally he was really funny and he had come up with a prank one or two times. I don't see why they are friends with him though. Sirius, Potter and even Lupin to some extent, were in the popular crowd of their year but Pettigrew just seemed like an outcast. He wasn't good looking and didn't have that much brains. Still Sirius insisted that he was a good friend, not as good as James, but still good.

I went back to the Slytherin common room to see if I could find Regulus so I could ask him how his first day had been. I remembered my first day at Hogwarts, I had been absolutely terrified even though I would not admit that to anyone. The castle was huge and I was so worried that I'd lose my way and never be found if I went down a wrong corridor. I now know that it's virtually impossible to get lost here, and on the rare occasion someone does get lost the teachers can send the ghosts and house elves to find you and then all is well again.

Bella's letter was still playing on my mind. I couldn't believe that she wanted me to influence him to think the same way as the Dark Lord. He's only eleven and has just started school. He doesn't need his mind filled with those thoughts right now. At least let him get to a half decent age before exposing him to the terrors of the Death Eater ways. I suppose a part of me thought that if I left it a while the Dark Lord would be defeated and long gone before Regulus had to worry about those things.

_Shit, I was supposed to talk to Sirius about the letter after lessons. _

Luckily I knew where the Gryffindor common room was as I had snuck out to talk to Sirius at night sometimes. There was one problem, I didn't know the password and the Fat Lady was no way going to let a Slytherin in. I decided to try my luck anyway as I approached her portrait that covered the entrance.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans?"

She refused to budge so I kept on throwing the names of all the Wizarding sweets I could think of at her. Soon I was running out of ideas and I was at a loss of what to try next.

"Err… Slytherin stinks?"

"No." The Fat Lady replied. "It's a good one though, although I shouldn't really be saying that. House unity and all."

I soon grew frustrated and kicked at the wall, bruising my toe as I did so. I sat down on the floor with my back up at the wall and cursing the day that Sirius made it into Gryffindor. Why did he have to be so damn difficult? I don't know how long I was sitting there for but it had grown dark by the time I felt someone shake me.

"Andie?"

I looked up to see Sirius standing over me with Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin standing behind him, looking at me curiously.

"Sirius I need to speak to you," I looked pointedly at his friends, "alone."

"Whatever you need to say to me can be said in front of my friends. I don't keep anything from them."

"It's about Regulus."

He turned to the three that stood behind him.

"Maybe it's best if you do go, I'll be up in a minute."

"It's okay, mate, we understand. Just don't do anything stupid." James Potter turned and climbed in through the portrait hole, closely followed by the others.

When he was sure they had gone he turned to face me and said coldly, "I don't want to hear about him."

"He's in trouble, Sirius." I started.

"He's in Slytherin, what do you expect?" Sirius snapped. "He had the chance to get into Gryffindor and away from all that lot but he didn't take it. That's his problem now and he has to deal with it. He has to fight his own battles now, I can't do it for him."

"He thinks you don't like him anymore, Sirius."

"Well he thought right didn't he?"

"You don't mean that Sirius, he's your brother and you care about him." I glared at Sirius, I couldn't believe what he was acting like.

"He's no brother of mine if he's in Slytherin."

"That's like saying I'm no cousin of yours because _I'm _in Slytherin. Do you really think that low of me?" I was hurt.

"Andie, you're different." Sirius started.

"How am I any different?" I snapped.

"All of your family have been in Slytherin, you didn't know any better and you wouldn't have know anyone if you had been anywhere else. You could have been in Ravenclaw if you wanted, or maybe even Gryffindor but you thought that you would be disowned if you went into another house."

"You got disowned -- or near enough -- though, didn't you Sirius? Regulus didn't want that, he's not like you, he wants to make his mother proud. He was scared."

"It wouldn't matter though because I'm already there, it wouldn't be so much of a shock and dear old mum would always find some way to pin the blame on me. Regulus is her favourite and she would never punish him for that because it would have been me 'leading him astray'."

"Bella sent me a letter this morning." I tried to steer the conversation back in the direction it should be going.

"So what." Sirius grumbled.

"She wants me to make sure that he is influenced by the right people in Slytherin, meaning the people that are to become Death Eaters upon leaving Hogwarts. She wants to make sure he goes over to that side when he finishes and to receive the mark upon graduation."

"What!" Sirius looked shocked. "You've got to stop that from happening!"

"I can't do it on my own, Sirius." I whispered. "I need you to make him feel wanted, he looks up to you and he won't do anything that you don't want him to. Only you really have the power to stop this. I can do my best but I'm leaving at the end of the year and I won't be much good then. You need to teach him that it's wrong and that he needs to do the right thing. If you refuse to talk to him, that's going to be the thing that pushes him over to them."

"Thanks, Andie. I always knew you were the good one in the family."

"No problem. I'll see you around. Goodnight."

By the time I got back to the common room it was nearing one in the morning. I was lucky to have not been caught by Filch, the caretaker, or that bloody cat Mrs. Norris. No one was left in the deserted room so I made my way up to bed making my mind up that I would talk to Regulus in the morning. I had to be careful though. I didn't want anyone to find out what I was doing. Bella would kill me, and I need my family around me.


End file.
